George hand smith



GEORGE? HAND sM1TH,r N'EW YORK, N.'Y.

me. aina' Letters Patent-No. 92,894, dated July-20, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE or WRoUGHT-IRON AND STEELDIREQT FROM Y THEV one. l

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part ofthe same.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be itz-known that I, GEORGE HAND SMITH, of the city, county, and State o f vNew Yorlg have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Process of Making VVrought-Iron and Steel Direct from the Ore;- and I do hereby declare, that the following is 'a full, clear,

and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, illustrative of afurn'ace suitable for, and which Vmay be used in Working my said improved process, ir which drawings C v Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section.

The other ligure will-be refened to hereafter.

The object of my invention is' to obtain wroughtiron or steeldirectlyfrom yiron-ore, without fusion of the ore, so that Wrought iron or steel 'ol uniform grades' can be obtained at less cost than by any other known process; and, to that end,

My said'process consists-in heating the ore, after itv has been mechanically' reduced, by neutral heat, in a suitable furnace, until it reaches a white heat, short of fusion of the ore, and then introducing into the charge'- so heated, and from separate source, carbonaceous gas or vapor, to effect the conversion of the ore into wrought-iron or steel, suitable for balling up andgworking into blooms and vnished bars, or for meltingto lproduce cast-steel.

For the working of my said process, I take the ore,

by preference the rich black oxides and specular varieties, and, by any ofthe well-known or'su'itable means,- reduce it mechanically to small'lumps, by preference so that the largest will pass through a screen of threequarter-inch meshes.

So reduced, the ore is charged, to the depth of from six to eight inches, on the door a of either of the -furnaces represented in the accompanying drawings.'

- rlhe furnace for the working ot' my said process l must havea't least three compartments, viz:

First, a converting-chamber, a, on the floor of which the'comminuted-ore is charged, to the depth of from six to eight inches.l

Second, a tire-chamber, l), for the charge of heatingfuel, provided with a suitable grate and means 'for introducing a blast of air, and so located that the name and gaseous products of the combustion will pass over the charge of ore, and return in a iiue, c, under the floor ofthe. converting-chamber,

Third, a chamber, d, for containing the charge of carbonaceous matter, wliiclrcllalnber must be sepaf rateA from the ire-chamberand from the converting` chamber', but in such proximity to the convertingchamber that the carbonaceous gases generatedmay be readily'transferred to the coinfertinglchamber, to act on the heated ore.

I prefer to locatel the third chamber, d, for containing the carbonaceous mattenimmedately between'the is to be managed will rienced' iron-masters.

first or converting-chamber and thesecond or rechamber, so that the roof of the third chamber shall 'constitute the bridgeo the fire-chamber, that the carbonaceous matter maybe thereby heated.

The furnacemay be double, as in Figure 2,-the two i converting-chambers being separated by a wall, c.

In 'working my said process, I so manage the lre in from the fire-'chamber into the.,converting-chamber,`

which'is effected by a deep charge of fuel,compared with the blast of air, that ali the oxygen ofthe air may be taken up by the carbon of the fuel.

The object is so to regulate the supply of fuel and 'the blast of air, that tbe gases evolved from the fire- .chamber 4will be, as 'nearas can be, marbonic'acc, containing neither oxygen nor carbon in a condition tov The, manner in which such a fire act `upon the ore.

vbe readily understood by eirpe- The third orl carbon-chamber is separated from .the converting-chamber bya bridge, j, there being suiicieut space betweenl the said bridge and the roof l/ foi" the passage of the carbonaceous vapor into the converting-chamber, to act upon the heated ore.

After the ore has been heated up. to a White heat,-

a litt-le short of a welding-heat, the c arbonaceousv matter 'is introduced into' the Vcarbon-chamber,` through a suitable aperture, -and there v aporized,.that in the gaseous form it may escape to act upouj and convert the ore.

v- The carbonaceous matter may be bituminous coal,

Aor any of the hydrocarbons, or other volatile' carbonaceous matter, 'but other carbonaceous mattei, such as coke or charcoal, may be substituted, if ignited inthey chamberand supplied with atmospheric air iu` such proportion as to produce carbonio oxide.

During the time that the carbonaceous gasesA are being introduced, the ore should be occasionally stirred and turned over, through apertures in the side walls,

that every part of the charge maybe converted, which will take from two to six hours, depending 'upon the depth. of the charge-and ythe size to which the orelhas been granulated, and the extent \to which it may be desired to apply carbon. V

The required degree of'. conversion is determined by takingportio'ns of the ore .out of the furnace and'subjecting them tothe required tests.-

lhev ore, whenvascertained to be properly converted, is taken outof the furnace, .and transfcrredto any suitable balling-furnace, whereitis balled, and thenlhammered or rolled. But'f desired, instead'of balling the converted ore, it maybe melted incruciblesor suitablefurnaces, and made iuto. either cast-steel or wroughtiron.

It will be seen, that when` the said process is used for making wrought-iron, the application of 4the ca not, therefore, wish to be understood as making claiin, bonaceons vapor is stopped s0 soon as the-heated ore broadly, to the making of Wronghtron and steel directly is deoxidized; and when making steel, it is continued from the ore; but c beyond the deoxidization bf the heated ore, until the NVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to serequired degree of carbonization has been obtained, dccure by Letters Patent,.is

pending upon the grade of steel desired. Heating the ore to a white heat, by what I have I do not-wish to be understood as limiting myself to hereinV described as neutral heat, and while the ore is the working of my said process in a furnace such as I in that state, applying to it the required charge ofcal'- liave herein described, as it may be worked in furnaces '.bon, in the gaseous form, from a source separate from of different construction. The furnace represented in the heating-fire, to eect the conversion of the ore, the accompanying drawings will be found suitable for substantially as and for the purpose'specied.

'the purpose. GEORGE HAND SMITH.

Variousprocesses have been described and tried for making wrought-iron and steel directly from the ore, Xilitiiesses:

all of which have been found to be more or less defec- YVM. H. BISHOP,

tive, uncertain in the results, and too expensive. I do ANDREW DE LACY. 

